6. Instructional Delivery

6.) Instructional Delivery: This also goes hand in hand with #2 and #3. I must use a variety of teaching approaches to ensure that my students get the most out of each learning experience with me.

The teacher understands and uses a variety of instructional strategies to encourage students’ development of critical thinking, problem solving, and performance skills.

Knowledge Indicators - The competent teacher:

6A. understands the cognitive processes associated with various kinds of learning and how these processes can be stimulated.

6B. understands principles and techniques, along with advantages and limitations, associated with various instructional strategies.

6C. knows how to enhance learning through the use of a wide variety of materials as well as human and technological resources.

6D. understands the disciplinary and interdisciplinary approaches to learning and how they relate to life and career experiences.

6E. knows techniques for modifying instructional methods, materials, and the environment to facilitate learning for students with disabilities and/or diverse learning characteristics.

Performance Indicators - The competent teacher:

6F. evaluates how to achieve learning goals, choosing alternative teaching strategies and materials

to achieve different instructional purposes and to meet students’ needs.

6G. uses multiple teaching and learning strategies to engage students in active learning opportunities that promote the development of critical thinking, problem-solving, and performance capabilities and that help students assume responsibility for identifying and using learning resources.

6H. monitors and adjusts strategies in response to learners’ feedback.

6I. varies his or her role in the instructional process as instructor, facilitator, coach, or audience in relation to the content and purposes of instruction and the needs of students.

6J. develops a variety of clear, accurate presentations and representations of concepts, using alternative explanations to assist students’ understanding and presenting diverse perspectives to encourage critical thinking.

6K. uses a wide range of instructional technologies to enhance students’ learning.

6L. develops curriculum that demonstrates an interconnection between subject areas that will reflect life and career experiences.

6M. uses strategies and techniques for facilitating meaningful inclusion of individuals with disabilities.

6N. uses technology appropriately to accomplish instructional objectives.

6O. adapts the general curriculum and uses instructional strategies and materials according to characteristics of the learner.

6P. implements and evaluates individual learning objectives.

"The teacher understands and uses a variety of instructional strategies to encourage students’ development of critical thinking, problem solving, and performance skills."

Because students are extremely diverse in the way they learn, the teacher must be able to delivery there instruction in a manner that will reach every student. To be effective a teacher must be able to relay the same message in multiple different ways. In other words, they need a big bag of tricks to get every concept through to every student's unique way of learning. This is, again, up to the teacher to figure out what works best for each class and then what works best for each student.

*This is a scanned image of a letter that I received from one of my Music Theory students at the Chicago High School for the Arts. He had a little trouble understanding how to construct a major scale so I taught Michael Jordan method (my original method I created just for him). Because he is a Chicago native, I came up with, what I call, the Michael Jordan scale. Most people around the world, and especially Chicago natives, know that Michael Jordan's basketball jersey number is 23. So I explained that a major scale is built with 2 Whole steps, a half step, 3 Whole steps, and finally another half step.